CL Redux

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-futures-slammed-again-drop-below-82-2012-06-04

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Crude-oil futures seesawed Monday, finding some support after having sustained hefty losses last week, but
<b>
1/ disappointing U.S. jobs data,
2/ mounting euro-zone worries and
3/ weak economic data in China continued to weigh on investor confidence. </b>


On London’s ICE Futures exchange, July Brent crude UK:LCON2 +0.40% fell 61 cents to $97.82 a barrel, recovering after having fallen below $96, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ basket price stood at $97.44 as of June 1, according to data from the cartel’s website.

“<b>For the first time since February 2011, the OPEC basket price has dipped below the $100-a-barrel mark,</b> which Saudi Arabia considers to be the ideal level,” said analysts at Commerzbank, in a research note Monday. <b>“This puts pressure on the biggest OPEC producer to reduce its recent oil production of more than 10 million barrels per day in order to prevent prices falling even further.” </b>

Meanwhile, data pointing to weakness in China’s services sector and a decline in U.S. factory orders added further pressure on the oil market.

The nonmanufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for May dropped to 55.2 in May from 56.1 in April, marking its lowest reading since the seasonally-adjusted figures were introduced in 2011, according to China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Read full story.
 
Friday old news , posting to note Hedge Fund withdrawal ...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/04/markets-asia-nymex-idUSL3E8H402420120604

* <b> Hedge funds and other money managers withdrew more than $2.3 billion from commodities markets in the final week of May, taking their most bearish stance since the end of December, trade data on Friday showed. </b>

- Data showing U.S. job growth stumbled in May and the jobless rate rose for the first time in nearly a year added to worries about the global economy.
- A report from No. 2 oil consumer China indicated a slowdown in it manufacturing sector, which dragged crude down early on Friday.
 
Oil up on hopes action near on economic growth

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/04/markets-oil-idUSL3E8H41VT20120604


1/ "Europe's stock market stabilized, and the euro bounced and
the dollar weakened, on the hope there will be central bank
stimulus to stop the bleeding and that pulled crude off the
early lows," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in
Chicago.

- Finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of
Seven (G7) industrialized nations will hold a conference call on
Tuesday to discuss the European debt crisis.

- The fading U.S. jobs growth has raised expectations that the
Federal Reserve might be more inclined to engage in a third
round of stimulus, known as quantitative easing, a move that
would be expected to weaken the dollar.

Investors await Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's
Thursday testimony before a congressional panel for any clues
about plans for bolstering a faltering economic recovery.
Also on tap this week are policy meetings of the European
Central Bank on Wednesday and the Bank of England on Thursday.

The higher Saudi production, along with more from Iraq and
post-Gaddafi Libya, helped boost global supply and eased worries
about loss of Iranian barrels, while revived talks with between
Iran and major power in May also helped pull oil prices down.

this week Crude Stocks forecast :
<b> U.S. crude stockpiles are expected to have slipped last
week, a Reuters survey of analysts taken on Monday showed. A
drop in stockpiles would snap a string of 10 stock builds
reported by the government.
</b>
 
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